Lady Flames Fall to Blue Hose, 17-3

Attacker Krisitin Crowley netted a pair of goals in Liberty's game against Presbyterian on Saturday.

Hoping to claim sole possession of fifth place in the National Lacrosse Conference (NLC) standings, the Liberty women's lacrosse team (1-10, 1-4 NLC) stepped into Old Bailey Stadium, Saturday afternoon, squaring off with conference competitor Presbyterian (3-11, 2-3 NLC). Unfortunately, the Lady Flames could not prevent the home team from finding the net early and often, as the Blue Hose took the contest, 17-3.

With the defeat, Liberty drops to 1-4 in conference play and is now guaranteed the sixth spot in the conference tournament.

Presbyterian assist leader Brittni Dulaney was the game's leading scorer with three goals, while five other Blue Hose players added two goals apiece.

The Blue Hose struck early, netting a quartet of goals, highlighted by a pair from Dulaney to take the early 4-0 lead at 24:21.Nearly a minute later, Crowley ended Presbyterian's scoring streak with her 21st goal of the season to cut it to three, 4-1.

Following Crowley's unassisted marker, Presbyterian proceeded to go on another scoring spree, this time, a 5-0 run. Katie Prisco cemented the tear, posting a marker with 16 ticks remaining in the first period to make it 9-1 at halftime.

Presbyterian continued its unanswered scoring trend in the second period, netting six straight goals in the opening 10 minutes. Jordan Newberry capped off the run after finishing the pass from Dulaney, to give the Blue Hose a 16-1 advantage.

Once again, Crowley halted Presbyterian's offensive attack, placing her second unassisted tally past the goalkeeper to make it 16-2 with 16:25 left. After an eight-minute scoring drought from both sides, Clearwater followed up Crowley's goal with one of her own, finding the net at 8:24 to alter the scoreboard on the visiting side, 16-3. Presbyterian's Kirstin Stenoien tacked on one last goal at 1:33, for the final score of 17-3.

Liberty plays its final contest of its inaugural season next Saturday, as the team travels to Davidson for its third straight conference matchup. The opening draw is slated for 1 p.m.